Department for Transport

Department for Transport: Staff

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department’s publication of workforce management information for the months of March and April 2022, for what reasons those months show the same figures in the seven categories for payroll staff costs, the three categories for non-payroll staff costs and the total for all staff costs.

Jesse Norman: The March 2022 workforce management information was incorrectly used to report April 2022 data. The Department has requested the publication of the correct April 2022 data and the figures were updated on 9 March 2023.

Department for Education

Academies: Admissions

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many complaints he received of maladministration by academy admission authority appeal panels in each of the last five years; and what the average time taken was to (a) reply to and (b) resolve complaints in the same period.

Nick Gibb: The Department aims to acknowledge all complaints within three working days. In relation to admission maladministration complaints relating to academies, the Department has received the following number in the last five calendar years:YearAcademy Admission Appeal Panel ComplaintsAverage Days to Resolve201823320.68201935223.39202040615.78202133915.66202225319.07

Children's Social Care Independent Review

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the independent report entitled the independent review of children’s social care: final report, published 23 May 2022, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of that report's recommendations.

Claire Coutinho: Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.On 2 February 2023, the department published the consultation and implementation strategy: Stable Homes, Built on Love, which sets out how we will achieve broad, system-wide transformation.Ireland is not affected by the proposed reforms in Stable Homes, Built on Love, although the Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) report contained recommendations for England, Scotland, and Wales. Throughout delivery, we will continue to engage with the devolved administrations across relevant reform areas.

Carers: Leave

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 1 November 2022 to Question 69827 on Carers: Leave, what progress her Department has made on creating an allowance and a new entitlement to kinship leave for all special guardians and kinship carers with a Child Arrangements Order in place.

Claire Coutinho: Kinship carers play an extremely important role in both their kin children’s lives and in the Children’s Social Care system.The department published the consultation and implementation strategy: Stable Homes, Built on Love, on 2 February 2023, which sets out how we will achieve broad, system-wide transformation. Through this strategy we have made a commitment to implement each of the Review’s recommendations on kinship care.The department has committed to working across government to explore possible additional workplace entitlements and options for an extension of legal aid for kinship carers with a special guardianship order (SGO) or child arrangement order (CAO). The department is also exploring the case for mandating a financial allowance for kinship carers with SGOs and CAOs in every local authority.The department is committed to publishing a national kinship care strategy by the end of 2023. This will provide an update on reform activity such as exploring financial allowances. The strategy will set out a long-term vision for kinship care, and detail how we can better support children and carers. The department sees this as a pivotal moment for kinship care and will be an opportunity to make real and lasting change.Statutory guidance issued to local authorities already makes it clear that children and young people should receive the support that they and their carers need to safeguard and promote their welfare. There is no limit on the level of support, including financial support, that local authorities can provide. All local authorities should have in place clear eligibility criteria in relation to the provision of support services.

Free School Meals: Disability

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will include in her Department's guidance for schools and local authorities on free school meals how (a) local authorities and (b) schools should provide free school meals to disabled children who are unable to access them.

Nick Gibb: The Education Act 1996 places a duty on maintained schools and academies to provide free school meals (FSM) to pupils of all ages that meet the criteria for eligibility and who are attending school during term time. The Act makes clear that a child must be registered at a publicly funded school as a condition of claiming FSM. Local Authorities are funded to support children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including those who are unable to attend school on a long term basis. Parents are advised to liaise with Local Authorities to consider suitable alternatives in line with the guidance on long term illnesses, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/illness-child-education. The Department is always considering how it can best support children with SEND and their parents. The Department will keep its guidance on FSM under review to ensure that it is meeting user needs.

Children's Social Care Independent Review

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 28 February 2023 to Question 148681 on Children in Care: Equality, which organisations attended the roundtable discussions held by her Department.

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 28 February 2023 to Question 148681 on Children in Care: Equality, how many organisations supported the independent review of children's care's recommendation that care experience should be a protected characteristic during her Department's two roundtable discussions with the care sector.

Claire Coutinho: Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.In developing the Care Experience chapter of Stable Homes: Built on Love, the department held two roundtable discussions with organisations representing the care sector. The organisations were:Action for ChildrenAssociation of Directors of Children’s ServicesBarnardo’sBecomeCare Leavers AssociationCareer MattersCatch 22Coram VoiceDrive ForwardHouse ProjectJust 4 Kids LawNational Association of Virtual School HeadsNational Children’s BureauNational Youth Advocacy ServiceOffice of the Children’s CommissionerOfstedRees FoundationSpectra.To enable the most robust and constructive exchange of views possible, these conversations were held in confidence.

Department of Health and Social Care

Autism: South of England

Sir Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of health commissioners for (a) identifying local demand and (b) implementing the right services and support for people with autism in (i) West Sussex, (ii) Hampshire and (iii) Surrey.

Maria Caulfield: There are no current plans to make this specific assessment. NHS England publish quarterly data on how many people are waiting for an autism assessment, and for how long, by local area. The data provides useful information to support local areas to identify local demand.It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population in line with relevant guidance, including assessments and services of support for autistic people.In 2021, Surrey Heartlands Health and Care Partnership published the Autism Strategy for Surrey (2021-26). Sussex Health and Care Integrated Care System have been implementing the Sussex All Age Learning Disability and Autism Strategy (2021-2024) since 2021.The Provider Collaborative for Wessex and Dorset, responsible for Hampshire, are working in partnership with relevant ICBs on Dynamic Support Registers to ensure young people are assessed at an early point and there are timely interventions that will prevent escalation. Additionally, where gaps in commissioning are identified, system partners are working together to address these.

Skin Diseases: Telemedicine

Sir Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to help (a) increase the dermatology workforce and (b) ensure that patients with inflammatory skin conditions can access timely specialist care.

Helen Whately: Starting from August 2022, Health Education England has increased the number of training posts in dermatology which will help support the dermatology workforce. In November 2022 there were 1,233 full-time equivalent doctors in the dermatology specialism working in hospital and community health settings, representing an increase of 65 since the previous year.Alongside this expansion, in September 2022 NHS England produced guidance on referral optimisation for people with skin conditions to ensure that patients with inflammatory skin conditions can access timely specialist care. This can be found at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/B1149-referral-optimisation-for-people-with-skin-conditions.pdf

Breasts: Plastic Surgery

Lee Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the date PIP implants were reintroduced to the UK.

Maria Caulfield: Poly Implant Prothèse (PIP) breast implants have not been re-introduced to the UK market, since their withdrawal in 2010. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) which regulates medical devices such as breast implants, is working towards implementing a future regulatory regime as outlined in the Government response to the public consultation on the future Medical Device Regulations, published on the 26 of June 2022. The future regime will enhance the MHRA’s proactive patient safety monitoring of devices, enabling earlier identification of safety issues. The future regulations will also look to enhance pre-market requirements, ensuring medical devices receive increased risk-proportionate scrutiny before they reach the market. The Government remains committed to protecting patient safety and women’s health.

Industrial Diseases and Long Covid: Research

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the adequacy of Government funding for research into (a) occupational disease and (b) the (i) causes and (ii) effects of Long Covid.

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make more funding available to research the occupational impacts of Long Covid.

Will Quince: Over £50 million has already been invested in post COVID-19 syndrome research projects to improve our understanding of the diagnosis and underlying mechanisms of the disease and the effectiveness of both pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies and interventions, as well as to evaluate clinical care. There are no plans for an assessment of the adequacy of research funding for post COVID-19 syndrome and/or occupational disease. The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including occupational disease and post COVID-19 syndrome. It is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions.

Health Services: Long Covid

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of support for healthcare workers suffering from Long Covid.

Will Quince: No assessment has been made. NHS England has invested £314 million to date to provide care for people with post COVID-19 syndrome.A range of support is available for National Health Service staff who are experiencing symptoms of post COVID-19 syndrome, which includes training and guidance for teams and leaders as well as access to occupational health and local Employee Assistance Programmes.

Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency: Clinical Trials

Sir Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the standard time is for a coordinated response by MHRA for clinical trails; and what the performance has been against that standard in the last 12 months.

Will Quince: The standard time for the initial coordinated response from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is 30 days from the date of receipt of a valid request for authorisation of a clinical trial. The average coordinated performance against the standard for the last 12 months between February 2022 to February 2023 inclusive was 43.96 days.

Birth Rate

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment with his Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of the decline in the birth rate on the (a) delivery of and (b) demand for public services over the next 30 years.

Maria Caulfield: We currently have no plans to assess the potential impact of changes in the birth rate on the delivery of and demand for public services.

Social Services: Technology

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had recent discussions with technology companies on how they could help support domiciliary social care provision.

Helen Whately: Officials from the Department regularly engage with the social care sector, as well as suppliers and technology companies, to understand the opportunities and barriers to adoption of technology in social care settings.

Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency: Clinical Trials

Sir Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the overall effectiveness of the MHRA in supporting and evaluating clinical trials in the UK; and what assessment he has made of the potential future risks to that effectiveness.

Will Quince: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) recently underwent a programme organisational reform and transformation, supported by independent advisors, to deliver an agency able to modernise medicines and medical device regulation in the United Kingdom and take advantage of its new sovereign regulator status. This process and the ongoing implementation of the changes is under constant review by MHRA itself and departmental officials, including any impact on delivery and effectiveness. As part of that and the normal business planning cycles, the two teams will continue to work together to support the Agency to continue to protect the health of the UK population including ensuring the safety of clinical trials.

Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency: Staff

Sir Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many phase one inspectors were employed by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in each January since 2019.

Will Quince: The following table shows the number of Good Clinical Practice inspectors who are trained to perform the inspections of phase I clinical trial units, who are members of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) Phase I Accreditation Scheme of this type during each January from 2019 to 2023YearNumber of inspectorsJanuary 20235 (plus 1 inspector in training)January 20226January 20217January 20206January 20196

Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps Department has taken to increase awareness of Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes amongst NHS staff.

Helen Whately: England’s first Rare Diseases Action Plan was published on 28 February 2022 and included specific actions to increase awareness of rare diseases, such as Ehlers Danlos Syndromes (EDS), amongst National Health Service staff. Progress against these actions is detailed in England’s second Rare Diseases Action Plan, published on 28 February 2023. This includes ongoing work by Health Education England (HEE), as part of their Genomics Education Programme, to deliver education and training to the NHS workforce to support awareness, knowledge and management of rare diseases as well as other conditions with a genomic aetiology, including EDS. England’s 2023 Rare Diseases Action Plan also includes a new commitment for HEE to publish and implement specific strategies for increasing awareness of rare diseases in the nursing, midwifery, pharmacy and primary care workforce over the coming year.

Patients: Digital Technology

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of using digital technology to help patients stay safe in their homes; and if he provide funding for the provision of that digital technology.

Helen Whately: People at the Heart of Care, the Government’s white paper on social care reform, committed to launch a scheme to use promising care technologies to help people live independently in their own homes for longer.The Department is working with all 42 integrated care systems (ICSs) across the country, to support the adoption of technology for social care. To date, 13 ICSs are trialling technologies to support people to remain independent in their own homes, and this support will be scaled further across the country next financial year.

General Practitioners: Closures

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 27 February 2023 to Question 147335 on General Practitioners: Contracts, how many general practice closures there have been due to contractor notice in England for each financial year since 2017-18.

Neil O'Brien: This data is not held in the format requested.

Skin Cancer: Health Services

Sir Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the guidance by NHS England entitled The two-week wait skin cancer pathway, published on 4 April 2022, whether his Department plans to take steps to help tackle regional variations in the use of teledermatology within dermatology services in England; whether his Department has provided funding for the implementation of new pathways proposed within that guidance; and whether accountability mechanisms have been put in place to help ensure that integrated care systems implement those pathways in England.

Sir Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the guidance by NHS England entitled The two-week wait skin cancer pathway, published on 4 April 2022, if he will make an estimate of the median cost to trusts of establishing a teledermatology service.

Helen Whately: The Outpatient Recovery and Transformation (OPRT) programme has delivered a series of webinars and processes to raise awareness of various outpatient improvement initiatives to support Integrated Care Systems, with signposting to online resources and contacts for support in implementation.The OPRT in collaboration with the National Cancer team and other stakeholders have published the Implementing a timed skin cancer diagnostic pathway guidance for local health and care systems (in October 2022), including for teledermatology pathways to support two week wait skin cancer delivery.NHS England provide support, funding and guidance to help cancer alliances improve outcomes and reduce variation. This includes programme management to support delivery and implementing guidance for achieving best practice. Estimates of costs of establishing teledermatology services are the remit of commissioner and provider organisations.

Birth Rate

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the decline in the birth rate.

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the decline in the birth rate.

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to help increase the birth rate.

Maria Caulfield: No assessment has been made.

Health Services: Rural Areas

Dr Neil Hudson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to improve access to primary care in rural areas.

Neil O'Brien: ‘Our plan for patients’, announced in September 2022, outlined how we will bolster general practice teams with additional staff, give patients more options when they need care, meet oral health needs and increase access to National Health Service dental care, including in rural areas. We acknowledge that some areas of the country are experiencing recruitment and retention issues with regard to NHS dentistry and GPs and we are taking steps to address these.The Pharmacy Access Scheme supports access in areas where there are fewer pharmacies by financially supporting those pharmacies. In 2016, the Government launched the Targeted Enhanced Recruitment Scheme, which has attracted hundreds of doctors to train in hard to recruit locations, including many rural areas, by providing a one-off financial incentive of £20,000.In the Penrith and The Border constituency it is estimated that there was a 38.4% increase in total full-time equivalent clinical staff working in general practice in September 2022 compared to September 2019 (published data: General practice workforce estimates by constituency: 2019 to 2022).

Mental Health Services

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his statement of 24 January 2023 on Government Action on Major Conditions and Diseases, HCWS514, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential benefits of reprioritising mental health as part of the enlarged Major Conditions Strategy.

Maria Caulfield: Mental Health is one of the six conditions that the Major Conditions Strategy will focus on. The Strategy will cover prevention and treatment for all six conditions and we will continue to work closely with stakeholders, citizens and the National Health Service in coming weeks to identify actions that will have the most impact. Bringing mental ill health and other conditions together will enable us to take a holistic approach, recognising the increasing multimorbidity and complexity of diseases.

Influenza: Vaccination

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS England plans to publish the service specification for childhood influenza vaccination as part of School Aged Immunisation Service activity for 2023-24.

Maria Caulfield: Ahead of each flu season NHS England confirms the requirements for the seasonal flu programme with all relevant contracted providers. The service specification for the school aged flu immunisation programme is not published in the public domain.

Gynaecology: Statistics

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has assessed the potential merits of collecting data on ethnicity and age for those presenting with menstrual health conditions.

Maria Caulfield: No specific assessment has been made. Across inpatient, outpatient and diagnostic services in secondary care, the National Health Service has asked local systems to draw up delivery plans which address the longest waiters and ensure health inequalities are tackled throughout the plan. This will have a particular focus on analysis of waiting times by ethnicity and deprivation.

Church Commissioners

Cemeteries: Vandalism

Jim Shannon: To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what discussions he has had with representatives of the arch-diocese of Jerusalem on damage to graves at the Protestant Cemetery on Mount Zion in January 2023; and what steps he plans to take to (a) help promote religious acceptance and harmony in the UK and (b) prevent vandalism at cemeteries.

Andrew Selous: The escalating violence in Jerusalem and the occupied Palestinian territories is of deep concern. Representatives of the Church continue to work closely with the Department of Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, the British Consulate in Jerusalem, the Heads of Churches in Jerusalem and other faith leaders in the city. The Archbishop of Canterbury remains in close contact with the Archbishop of the Diocese of Jerusalem, the Rt Revd Hosam Naoum, and the Bishop of Southwark regularly visits the region with Roman Catholic bishops as part of the Holy Land Coordination Group.Following the attacks, the Archbishop of Canterbury issued a statement that read, “The desecration of Christian graves in Jerusalem is a blasphemous act. I join the Chief Rabbi [Ephraim Mirvis] and religious leaders in Jerusalem in condemning it and hope those responsible will be brought swiftly to justice. As we continue to pray for peace in the Holy Land, I stand with Archbishop Hosam Naoum and other Jerusalem church leaders in calling for respect, protection, equality and justice for its Christian community – who are the Living Stones of the church.”Interviewed immediately after the attacks Archbishop Naoum spoke about the increasing use of exclusion, segregation, and intolerance alongside increasing attacks on the holy sites.The Heads of Churches in Jerusalem have urged all sides to "actively reaffirm their commitment to a promotion of an environment of safety, mutual respect and religious tolerance in the Holy Land." They also called for assurances to be given to the Christian community in Jerusalem following the increasing levels of extremist threats against them. At a recent meeting with the Jordanian Parliament Committee of External Affairs in Amman, the Heads of Churches raised concerns about the future of a continued presence of Christians, specifically Arabic Christians, in Jordan, Jerusalem and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.The statement by the Anglican Archbishop of Jerusalem, the Rt Revd Hosam Naoum, can be read here: https://j-diocese.org/wordpress/2023/01/04/statement-on-the-recent-vandalism-and-desecration-of-the-protestant-cemetery-on-mt-zion-4-january-2023/  The statements of the Patriarchs and Head of all Churches in Jerusalem can be read here: https://j-diocese.org/wordpress/2023/01/05/head-of-churches-statement-on-the-recent-vandalism-desecration-of-the-protestant-cemetery-on-mt-zion/The statement of the World Council of Churches can be read here: https://www.oikoumene.org/resources/documents/wcc-statement-on-desecration-of-historic-protestant-cemetery-in-jerusalem

Churches: Rural Areas

Mr Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, with reference to the Office for National Statistics classifications for land use in rural and urban areas, how many and what proportion of parishes are classified as rural; and how many and what proportion of newly ordained stipendiary curates have commenced curacy training in a parish classified as rural in each of the last five years.

Andrew Selous: The most up to date Office of National Statistics dataset relating to urban and rural communities is expected to be published in the summer. Until this has been mapped and applied to the data held by the National Church Institutions (NCIs), it is not possible to provide the information requested.The NCIs do not request statistical information about stipendiary curates as part of their routine annual survey of parishes. The most recent data available on the number of stipendiary curates can be found in the one off special project published in 2015 called 'Released for mission, growing the rural church', which is available here: https://www.churchofengland.org/news-and-media/news-and-statements/released-mission-growing-rural-churchFor more than a decade the Church Commissioners have financially supported dioceses to increase the number of ordinands they can afford to send for training. Funding has recently been allocated to dioceses through the Ministry Division of the NCIs to ensure ordinands can be supported in posts of first responsibility. This month the Church Commissioners announced a further grant (through the Strategic Mission & Ministry Investment Board of the Archbishops’ Council) of £5.6 million to continue to support curates as they move into their next posts. This will benefit both urban and rural parishes. More information can be found here: https://www.churchofengland.org/media-and-news/press-releases/clergy-posts-funded-through-ps56-million-national-church-england

Question

Jerome Mayhew: To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of local authority grant funding available to parish churches to upgrade their facilities.

Andrew Selous: It is the view of the National Church Institutions that Local Authority and Parish Council grant funding is not being made available to parish churches on a consistent basis, due to a lack of clarity in interpretation of existing law, specifically the Local Government Acts 1894, 1972 and the Localism Act 2011.The Church Buildings Council, following legal advice, has concluded that the provisions of the Localism Act 2011 and the Local Government Act 1972 allow for all Local Authorities, including Parish Councils, to contribute to the upkeep of church property under certain circumstances – mainly related to the public benefit achieved. A briefing note is available here: Local Authority Investment | The Church of EnglandIn Sir Bernard Taylor’s 2017 Review of the Sustainability of English Churches and Cathedrals, a recommendation was made that the law be clarified. See pp.31-32: The Taylor Review: Sustainability of English Churches and Cathedrals - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)The Bishop of Bristol is bringing amendments to the Levelling-Up and Regeneration Bill in the House of Lords to clarify the law. She has the support of heritage bodies and the National Association of Local Councils. The Bishop’s amendments would enable parish churches to be treated the same as other faith and community buildings, which can apply for small grants to improve public access, upgrade facilities such as kitchens or toilets, or enable repairs of guttering, stonework or windows.

Ministry of Justice

Miscarriages of Justice: Compensation

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if his Department can provide data on the (a) number of claimants (b) number of successful claimants and (c) the total awarded in compensation for a miscarriage of justice in each year since 2018.

Edward Argar: The number of claimants in each financial year, the number of successful claimants and the total amount of compensation they were awarded under the Miscarriages of Justice Application Service (MOJAS) is set out in the table below. Data from 2000 has also been provided for context.Please note that the number of successful claimants in any given year does not relate to the number of claims made in that year. The amount of compensation awarded in any given year relates to the successful decisions taken in that year, but the amount of money should not be divided by the number of successful claimants as each award is individual to the circumstances of the case. Where an individual has been found to meet the criteria of the statutory compensation scheme, but has not yet been awarded their compensation, this is highlighted in the table.It should also be noted that the information provided below is internal management information and not quality assured to the same level as published statistics and is subject to change.Financial YearNumber of claimants in the financial yearNo of successful decisions in the financial yearAmount of compensation for successful applicants 1999/2000n/k32£7,461,573.372000/2001n/k56£14,400,929.512001/2002n/k41£10,297,352.812002/20039534£8,241,042.262003/20048936£10,919,984.482004/20058648£7,769,144.212005/20069031£14,682,776.362006/20077929£7,206,847.832007/2008419£2,439,725.742008/2009387£1,664,795.002009/2010381£981,864.002010/2011611£2,189,151.002011/2012383£1,284,725.002012/2013361£50,480.002013/2014457£239,140.362014/2015432£261,705.822015/2016292£12,492.602016/2017511£93,000.002017/18360£0.002018/19590£0.002019/20985£713,500.002020/2180* *4 cases have been placed on hold so have not received a decision4£480,400.002021/22734 / 1£231,600.00 / Amount still to be determined by Independent Assessor2022/23 *to 24/02/2023)95* *Not all 95 cases have received a decision12Amounts still to be determined by Independent Assessor

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Forests: Climate Change

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the article in Nature entitled Tropical deforestation causes large reductions in observed precipitation, published on 1 March 2023, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of that article's findings.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The University of Leeds research adds to the large body of evidence on the role of tropical forests in maintaining wellbeing, biodiversity and climate. Reflecting this, the UK's COP26 presidency catalysed a step-change in tackling deforestation: supporting agreement of 145 countries to the Glasgow Leaders Declaration on Forests and Land Use; establishing new partnerships to improve the sustainability of commodities linked to forest loss; and creating the Forest and Climate Leaders' Partnership (FCLP) to raise ambition. The UK committed to providing £11.6 billion of climate finance over 2021-26, with at least £1.5 billion of this earmarked for forests.

EU Law: Northern Ireland

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Windsor Framework, published on 27 February 2023, CP 806, what EU VAT rules and requirements will apply to Northern Ireland under that agreement.

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Windsor Framework, published on 27 February 2023, CP 806, what EU requirements and rules on Excise taxes will apply to Northern Ireland under the Windsor Agreement.

Leo Docherty: The Windsor Framework secures substantive, legally binding changes, ensuring that Northern Ireland will benefit from the same VAT and alcohol taxes as apply in the rest of the United Kingdom. It specifically amends the legal text of the treaty to provide these critical freedoms and to lock in flexibility for the future.Under these arrangements, the Government will restore the integrity of the UK internal market and UK VAT and excise area:● The Windsor Framework enables the Government to bring forward legislation to ensure that Northern Ireland will be able to apply zero rates of VAT to the installation of energy-saving materials such as heat pumps and solar panels - rectifying the disparity between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.● It ensures that reforms to alcohol duties, due to take effect this summer, will apply right across the UK from the outset - meaning cheaper pints in pubs and a clearer set of duties overall.● It removes the limit on the number of reduced and zero rates in Northern Ireland, ensuring parity across the United Kingdom.● It delivers full flexibility on rates in the future, by establishing new categories that can be applied for VAT purposes where goods are connected to property or consumed in Northern Ireland.● It protects Northern Ireland's second-hand car market into the future with a new scheme to take effect from 1 May 2023, ending two years of uncertainty for traders and consumers.● It exempts Northern Ireland businesses from a range of bureaucratic EU rules: saving 2,000 Northern Ireland businesses from needing to register for VAT under a 2025 EU Directive; and avoiding a range of other new burdens on SMEs, and divergence with Great Britain.● And it establishes a brand new mechanism, first proposed in the UK's 2021 Command Paper, enabling the UK and EU to look at future EU rule changes and make further legally binding changes to resolve any distortive impacts that new EU red tape could cause.

EU Law: Northern Ireland

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Windsor Framework, published on 27 February 2023, CP 806, how many pages of EU law and regulation will apply to Northern Ireland under that agreement.

Leo Docherty: Only the absolute minimum (less than 3 percent) of EU law continues to apply in Northern Ireland, to avoid a hard border and maintain Northern Ireland's unique access to the EU market, alongside its unfettered access to the UK internal market. Under the Windsor Framework, more than 1,700 pages of EU law will be disapplied for UK internal trade. The rules that are disapplied are set out in the legal instruments giving effect to the Windsor Framework. It will be for elected representatives in NI to determine whether those rules should apply at all in 2024 under the democratic consent mechanism, and where those rules are amended in the future they will be subject to the democratic safeguard in the Stormont Brake.

Windsor Framework

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Windsor Framework, published on 27 February 2023, CP 806, under what circumstances the UK can leave the Windsor Agreement.

Leo Docherty: The Windsor Framework is subject to the democratic consent mechanism agreed in 2019, which means it is for elected representatives in NI to determine whether those provisions of EU law, applied solely and only to the extent necessary to maintain maximum free trade and market access for NI, should continue to apply.

Windsor Framework

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Windsor Framework, published on 27 February 2023, CP 806, in what way disputes between the EU and UK over that agreement will be adjudicated.

Leo Docherty: With the Windsor Framework now agreed, there is a sustainable basis for the future operation of arrangements in Northern Ireland. In case of any future issues, both parties have made a clear commitment to look to resolve them through dialogue rather than looking to dispute proceedings. This is reflected in the fact that the EU will no longer proceed with the live cases it had brought against the United Kingdom.

Department for Work and Pensions

Cost of Living Payments: Stockport

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of people who will receive the second cost of living payment in Stockport constituency.

Mims Davies: The estimated number of benefit units eligible for the means-tested benefit cost of living payment in Stockport parliamentary constituency is 13,500. There are an estimated 10,100 individuals who are eligible for the disability cost of living payment in Stockport constituency. The Department for Work and Pensions has published an Impact Assessment on the Cost of Living Payments. Further information can be found here: SocSec(AdditionalPayments)IA.pdf (parliament.uk) The pensioner cost of living payment will be delivered through the Winter Fuel Payment. The number of Winter Fuel Payments awarded in the Stockport constituency in winter 2021 to 2022 was 12,437. Statistics for the Winter of 2022 to 2023 will be published in September 2023. A full breakdown of Winter Fuel statistics can be found here: Winter Fuel Payment statistics for winter 2020 to 2021 and winter 2021 to 2022- GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Highly Protected Marine Areas Review

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to take steps to set targets on the designation of additional Highly Protected Marine Areas.

Trudy Harrison: Defra recently announced that it intends to designate the first three Highly Protected Marine Areas in English Waters. These HPMAs would be designated before 6th July 2023. Currently there are no targets set or planned for Highly Protected Marine Are-as, however Defra will explore additional sites this year. Any future sites will also be subject to consultation.

Highly Protected Marine Areas Review

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when her Department plans to bring forward proposals for further Highly Protected Marine Areas.

Trudy Harrison: Defra recently announced that it intends to designate the first three Highly Protected Marine Areas in English Waters. These HPMAs would be designated before 6th July 2023. Currently there are no targets set or planned for Highly Protected Marine Areas, however Defra will explore additional sites this year. Any future sites will also be subject to consultation.

Sewage: Shellfish

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has produced an impact assessment on the impact of sewage dumping by water companies on shellfish.

Rebecca Pow: We have not produced an impact assessment specifically on the impact of sewage dumping by water companies on shellfish. However, the Government has designated 101 shellfish water protected areas in England where water quality is monitored for E. coli. We have identified 63 priority areas where there is significant economic production and have the potential to meet the E. coli standard by 2030, or where action is needed to prevent deterioration. The Environment Agency will require water companies to review what action is needed in these priority areas, whether that is improvement, prevention of deterioration or investigation. This will lead to reductions in sewage discharges from storm overflows and disinfection of treated sewage.

Dogs: Animal Breeding

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many licensed dog breeders there were in England as of 1 March 2023; and how many of those breed more than three litters a year.

Rebecca Pow: Under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018, local authorities are required to provide an annual return detailing the number of licences in force on 1st April each year, and the average fees associated with the grant or renewal of each licence. There is no requirement for local authorities to provide information on licence holders’ commercial activities, such as the number of litters bred by a licenced dog breeder. Under the 2018 Regulations, local authorities have until 31st May each year to provide their returns. Data from 2022 is published by Defra and can be found here: Local Authority Licensing of Activities involving Animals returns - data.gov.uk

Sewage: Wildlife

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has produced an impact assessment of sewage dumping by water companies on British wildlife.

Rebecca Pow: Our Storm Overflows Evidence Project assessed the impact of sewage discharges and harm caused by storm overflows on the ecology of our rivers. We used this evidence to inform our Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan, which sets the most ambitious targets to reduce sewage discharges from storm overflows in water company history.

Animal Welfare: Electronic Training Aids

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Cruel electric shock collars for pets to be banned, published on 27 August 2018, what her planned timetable is for implementing a ban on the use of remote control electric shock collars.

Rebecca Pow: We plan to introduce regulations soon which will prohibit the use of remote controlled electronic training collars that deliver an electric shock to cats and dogs.

Animal Welfare: Fish Farming

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2023 to Question 139212 on Animal Welfare: Fish Farming, what her planned timetable is for reviewing the recommendations of the Animal Welfare Committee.

Mark Spencer: The Animal Welfare Committee has completed its update to the 2014 Opinion on the welfare of farmed fish at the time of killing. I will study its recommendations carefully in the coming months to determine next steps.

Packaging: Recycling

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department is taking steps to help make it easier to recycle packaging waste.

Rebecca Pow: Following support at public consultation, the Environment Act 2021 introduced new requirements for all local authorities in England to make arrangements for a core set of materials to be collected for recycling from all households: paper and card; plastic; glass; metal; food waste and garden waste. All businesses in England must make ar-rangements to recycle the same set of recyclable materials, with the exception of garden waste. In 2021 we consulted on the detail of this policy, including implemen-tation dates and materials in scope of collection – we will publish a consultation re-sponse shortly.Additionally, we intend to increase the amount of packaging that can be recycled. By March 2027, the government will require the collection of plastic film packaging for recycling from all households and businesses.To make recycling easier, packaging producers will be required to label packaging as ‘Recycle’ or ‘Do Not Recycle’ adopting a single label format which incorporates the Recycle Now symbol. All primary and shipment packaging (except for plastic films and flexibles) will be required to be labelled by 31 March 2026. An additional year will be permitted for plastic films and flexibles (31st March 2027) to align with the re-quirement for local authorities and businesses to have recycling collections in place for these materials.

Animal Welfare: Public Consultation

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 9 January 2023 to Question 110866 on Animal Welfare: Public Consultation, when she plans to hold discussions with the poultry industry on suitable timing for a consultation on the use of cages for laying hens.

Mark Spencer: The Government is committed to exploring the use of cages. However, no formal timelines for consultations have been confirmed as yet.

Animal Welfare: Voluntary Organisations

Dr Luke Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of levels of animal welfare standards in (a) animal sanctuaries and (b) rehoming organisations; and if she will conduct a public consultation to assess the introduction of regulations for rehoming activities for (i) animal sanctuaries and (ii) rehoming organisations in 2023.

Rebecca Pow: We meet regularly with stakeholders and welfare groups including the Canine and Fe-line Sector Group and the National Equine Welfare Council to monitor trends in the sector.The Action Plan for Animal Welfare includes commitments to pursuing the licensing of animal sanctuaries, rescue and rehoming centres including for cats, dogs and horses. Defra has been engaging with relevant organisations to understand their views and the possible impacts of regulating the sector. Any proposals to bring forward licensing regulations will be subject to a consultation.

Rivers: Water Abstraction

Sarah Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many licenses or permits to abstract water from chalk streams were given to each water company in each year since 2015.

Rebecca Pow: Environment Agency records indicate that a total of 2 new water company licences have been issued in chalk catchments, which are both transfer licences (non-consumptive use of water) since 2015 and 16 existing time limited licences have been renewed since 2015. The table attached provides the breakdown for the relevant water companies. New licences will only be issued if there is water available to be abstracted and may be issued with conditions to prevent or limit abstraction during periods of low flow. All new licences and renewal of time limited licences will have been assessed against environmental sustainability and justification of need criteria.Table of Water Company Licenses  (pdf, 37.3KB)

Environment Agency: Staff

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many employees of the Environment Agency were working on water pollution in each year since 2015.

Rebecca Pow: Team2015/162016/172017/182018/192019/202020/212021/22Feb-23Land & Water364365345353375338372422Ground Water & Contaminated Land179161157153147144133127Total543526502507523482505549 Notes:Full Time Equivalent (FTE) Data as of 31 March each year.These teams deliver an integrated package of water and land work, including regulation, planning, advice and pollution incident response. On average: Land and Water teams spend around 25 – 30% of their time; and Ground water and contaminated land teams spend around 2-3% of their time responding to and preparing for a mixture of water, land and flood incidents.

Chemicals: Regulation

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs,  if she will publish (a) the survey conducted by HSE of British-based suppliers and retailers of articles about their duties under Article 33 of UK REACH and (b) the wider review it conducted of Article 33 of UK REACH.

Rebecca Pow: We expect to complete the results of the survey and the conclusions of the review in the coming months.

Chemicals: Regulation

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many chemical substances have been registered through UK REACH under its grandfathering process as of 1 March 2023; and how many of those will receive the full datasets.

Rebecca Pow: On 3rd February 2023 the Health and Safety Executive submitted to the Environmental Audit Committee a UK REACH dashboard. The total number of chemical substances notified as having a grandfathered registration was 4115 (as at 30th November 2022). Companies provide full registration datasets only if they complete the full registration process by their relevant transitional registration deadline.

Chemicals: Regulation

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many full-time equivalent staff work on UK REACH in (a) the Health and Safety Executive, (b) her Department, (c) the Environment Agency and (d) other bodies; and whether her Department is planning to recruit more staff to work on UK REACH.

Rebecca Pow: As of 3 March 2023, the Health and Safety Executive has 50 full time equivalent staff working on UK REACH and the Environment Agency has 35 full-time equivalent staff. The Defra REACH team currently has 25 full time equivalent staff in post and plans to recruit into 16 vacancies.

Environment Protection: Electronic Cigarettes

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of disposable vapes on the environment; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the ban on single-use plastics to cover disposable vapes.

Rebecca Pow: We are aware that the use of disposable vaping products has increased substantially in recent years and are considering the implications of this trend on the environment. While there is no immediate plan to ban disposable vapes, we will consult on policies aimed at driving up levels of separate collection of electric and electronic waste, including vaping devices, as part of the review of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations, later this year. Their packaging could also be captured under our reformed packaging extended producer responsibility regime.

Hygiene: Waste Disposal

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 2 December 2022 to Question 95918 on Hygiene: Waste Disposal, if the peer review of the work has been finalised.

Rebecca Pow: Peer review of the Life Cycle Assessment of disposable and reusable nappies in the UK has been completed and arrangements for publication of the research are being finalised.

Camping Sites: National Parks

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to improve public awareness of permissive wild camping rights in National Parks.

Trudy Harrison: Improving public awareness of permissive wild camping is a matter for each National Park Authority and the respective landowners. The Government is supporting our National Parks to deliver access to nature, including through an additional £4.4 million funding grant for National Park Authorities to support services such as visitor centres, ranger support and efforts to increase access to nature.

Chemicals: Regulation

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many novel, non-grandfathered substances are registered with UK REACH; how many and what proportion of these registrations are (a) one tonne, (b) 100 tonnes and (c) 1,000 tonnes or more per year; and what estimate her Department has made of the number of novel substances that will be registered in each of the next three years.

Rebecca Pow: The total number of novel substances (meaning substances that were not registered in EU REACH before the UK left) registered under UK REACH up to March 2023 is 74. Breakdown as follows: Full registration1-10 tonnes3810-100 tonnes8100-1,000 tonnes2> 1,000 tonnes3Intermediate registration1-1,000 tonnes23 The number of novel substances registered each year depends on the decisions of individual business to bring those substances to the Great Britain market. HSE (the UK REACH Regulator) made provision in their 2022/23 workplan for processing between 20 and 50 new novel substance registrations in 2022/23.

Home Office

Visas: Foreign Investment in UK

Dame Margaret Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people received UK citizenship through the Tier 1 Investor Visa between 30 June 2008 and 6 April 2015.

Tom Tugendhat: The data is not available. Immigration statistics for the period 2008 to 2015 are published at Migration statistics.While these include statistics for naturalisation as a British citizen based on residence, they do not identify the specific routes of entry used to secure that residence.Migration transparency data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Police Custody: Death

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the report entitled I can’t breathe: Race, death and British Policing, published by Inquest on 20 February, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that data on death in police custody is recorded accurately.

Chris Philp: Every death in custody is a tragedy, and we are committed to delivering meaningful and lasting change to prevent deaths in custody.The IOPC publishes an annual report on deaths during or following police contact. This report provides a definitive set of figures for England and Wales, and an overview of the nature and circumstances in which these deaths occurred. Home Office officials maintain a regular dialogue with the IOPC regarding this issue.

Police: Racial Discrimination

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Inquest's report entitled I can’t breathe: Race, death & British policing, published on 20 February 2023, whether she has made an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the findings in that report.

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Inquest's report entitled I can’t breathe: Racist, death and British Policing, published on 20 February 2023, whether she has made an assessment of the implications for her policies of the finding that Black people are seven times more likely to die than White people in cases where restraint is used by the police.

Chris Philp: Government is clear that all police use of force must be reasonable, proportionate and necessary and no-one should experience use of force based on their race or ethnicity.Where a decision to use force is taken, officers are accountable through the law for their actions.

Asylum: Children

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied asylum-seeking children were housed in hotels in the UK in each of the last 12 months; what the average length of stay was for those children; and how many and what proportion of those children went missing in the same period.

Robert Jenrick: The rise in the number of small boat crossings has placed significant pressures on local authority care placements for young people. Out of necessity, and with the best interests of the child in mind, we have had no alternative but to temporarily use hotels to give unaccompanied children a roof over their heads whilst local authority accommodation is found.The Home Office takes the wellbeing, welfare and security of children and minors in our care extremely seriously. Robust safeguarding procedures are in place to ensure all children and minors are safe and supported as we seek urgent placements with local authorities.The National Transfer scheme (NTS) transferred 3,148 children to local authorities with children's services between 1 July 2021 and 30 September 2022, which is over four times the number of transfers on the year before. To further expand the scheme, we are providing local authorities with children's services with an additional £15,000 for every eligible young person they take into their care from a dedicated UASC hotel, or the Reception and Safe Care Service in Kent, by the end of February 2023.When any young person goes missing the 'missing persons protocol' is followed and led by our directly engaged social workers. A multi-agency, missing persons protocol is mobilised involving the police and the local authority, who have a shared statutory responsibility to safeguard all children including missing migrant children in order to establish their whereabouts and to ensure that they are safe.The MARS (Missing After Reasonable Steps) protocol is followed for any looked after child who goes missing from a care setting, including the UASC hotels.The average length of stay for those who arrived during this period was 19.85 days.Of these 3,832 young people as of 28.02.23 there have been 410 missing episodes from the UASC Hotels, the number subsequently located on 224 occasions. Therefore 186 of these young people are still missing.The safety and wellbeing of those in our care is our primary concern. Robust safeguarding and welfare procedures are in place to ensure all children and minors are safe and supported as we seek urgent placements with a local authority. This includes support workers being onsite in the hotels 24 hours a day, supported by nurses and social workers. UASC are not detained and are free to leave the accommodation. All contingency sites have security staff and providers liaise closely with local police to ensure the welfare and safety of vulnerable residents.

Asylum

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on how many people have claimed asylum after arriving in land-based vehicles in each of the last 12 months.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on asylum applications can be found in table Asy_D01 of the ‘asylum and resettlement detailed datasets’. Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbooks. The latest data relate to the year ending December 2022. Data for the year ending March 2023 will be published on 25 May 2023. Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.This data is not available broken down by method of entry. The Home Office publishes statistics on detected irregular arrivals to the UK in the ‘Irregular Migration to the UK statistics’ report. Data on detected irregular arrivals by method of entry are published in table Irr_D01 of the ‘Irregular migration to the UK detailed dataset’ with the latest data up to the end of December 2022. However, data on how many irregular arrivals claim asylum is only published for small boat arrivals.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Technology: Finance

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what the source of the £250 million funding for artificial intelligence, quantum technologies and engineering biology missions is.

George Freeman: The £250m funding for technology missions derives from the R&D settlement confirmed at the Spending Review 2021. The programme is being implemented by UKRI, including Innovate UK. The technology missions are intended to realise some of the transformative applications of AI, Quantum and Engineering Biology and support the science that built the UK’s leadership in these key technologies. It is anticipated that the £250 million will be matched by equal levels of private investment.

Science: Finance

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the Central Government Supply Estimates 2022-23, page 300, what assessment she had made of the consequences for the Government’s global science superpower aims as a result of the £1,602,000,000 surrender to HM Treasury.

George Freeman: In order to cement our position as a science Superpower, the Government will deliver its commitment to invest £20 billion per annum in R&D by 2024/25. R&D spending across Government is rising 30% in cash terms from 21/22 to 24/25- the largest-ever increase over a spending review period. The surrender to HM Treasury was as a result of delays in association to European Programmes. Departmental underspends are usually returned to the Exchequer at Supplementary Estimates to ensure spending plans are taut and realistic. Any funding required for association in future years will be made available once there is clarity on UK association to EU programmes.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Sizewell C Power Station: Investment

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he has had recent discussions with pensions schemes including (a) BT and (b) NatWest on investing in Sizewell C nuclear power station.

Andrew Bowie: Following the Government investment into the Sizewell C project in November 2022 to become a project shareholder, project development is ongoing, as are discussions regarding finance for Sizewell C. Details of these developments are commercially sensitive. The funding will support a capital raise for the project intended to be launched later in 2023 using the new Regulated Asset Base funding model for nuclear.

Treasury

Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access

Taiwo Owatemi: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access.

John Glen: Ministers and officials across government meet regularly to discuss a wide range of issues, including planning for the successor to the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access.